In and out of Australia Partner Visa
As the name suggest, a Partner Visa allows an applicant to join their partner in Australia. The visa pathway is created for married couples and de facto partners of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible citizens of New Zealand. You may be eligible for the partner visa Australia if you and your partner have been in a genuine relationship for at least 12 months. Your spouse can sponsor you for a period of two years under this visa category.
Once this two-year period is over, and your relationship with your partner continues, then you can consider applying for an Australia PR visa.
Eligibility Requirements for Partner Visa Australia
To qualify for Australia partner visa, you must meet the following requirements:
- You and your partner must be 18 years or above
- You and your spouse must share a genuine relationship with each other, and have a commitment to live as husband and wife forever, whether you are legally married or not.
- You must intend to live together permanently.
- You must have been in a spousal relationship for at least 12 months.
- You must meet health and character criteria.
Partner visa for Australia can be divided into three major categories. They are described as follows:
PROSPECTIVE MARRIAGE VISA (FIANCÉ) – SUBCLASS 300
The visa category is meant for applicants who wish to migrate to Australia before marriage. The application is submitted outside Australia, and the applicant must be outside the country when issued. In order to apply, your fiancé must either be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen. Once you are married, the holders of Prospective Marriage visa must then fulfil Australia PR requirements to remain indefinitely in the country.
The prospective marriage visa is a temporary visa granted for nine months, within which the couple must get married.
PARTNER VISA APPLICATION MADE OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA – SUBCLASS 309 AND 100
The subclass 309 is a temporary visa that allows you to live in Australia if you are married to an Australian permanent resident or an Australian citizen or an eligible citizen of New Zealand. Same sex couples can also apply for this visa.
You need to be outside Australia at the time of application as well as when granted. The subclass 309 visa is the first step towards obtaining permanent partner visa (subclass 100). In this process, you’ll have to apply only a single application for both temporary and permanent visa. The application under the permanent partner visa is processed under two stages.
In order to be eligible, you must first obtain a temporary Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309). Applicants must apply for both temporary as well as permanent partner visa application simultaneously. It takes a period of two years for the immigration authorities to process your application for the subclass 100 after you logged your application. You might be asked to submit additional supporting documents in favour of your application.
PARTNER VISA APPLICATION MADE IN AUSTRALIA – SUBCLASS 820 & 801
The Subclass 820 is a temporary partner visa that enables you to live in Australia, if you are legally married to Australian PR holders, Australian citizens, or eligible New Zealand citizens. Same sex couples are also eligible to apply for this visa.
In order to apply, you must be present in Australia, and you must be within the country when the visa is granted. Your partner must be in a position to sponsor you if they have sponsored a person or have had sponsored two persons simultaneously in the last two years. Although, there are still some exceptions in the visa for pointers mentioned above.
The subclass 820 is the first steps to getting a subclass 801 visa, which is a permanent partner visa.
The holders of subclass 820 can enjoy the following benefits:
- Live in Australia till the decision about your permanent partner visa is made
- Work and study in Australia, however, you will have no access to government funds
- Enrol in Medicare and other health related schemes and expenses
- Apply for permanent residency Australia after some years
You can also include your dependent children in the application, but no dependent relatives can be included unless you are a holder of a prospective marriage visa.
Two years after you have successfully logged your subclass 820 application, and you still continue with your relationship, you’ll then be allowed to apply for a permanent partner visa.
For more information about Partner Visa, give us a call or simply drop us an email at [email protected].
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